5 Free Sharpspring Alternatives for Small Businesses

HubSpot is a well-established all-in-one marketing, sales, and service platform that serves as a strong alternative to SharpSpring for small businesses seeking an integrated CRM and automation suite. According to their website, HubSpot offers tools for email marketing, landing pages, social media scheduling, and lead management—all within a unified dashboard. Its marketing hub allows users to create and schedule social media posts across major platforms, track engagement, and monitor campaign performance. The platform also includes content strategy tools like topic suggestions and SEO recommendations to help optimize blog content. HubSpot’s free plan provides basic CRM functionality, email marketing, and limited social media management, making it accessible for startups and solopreneurs. Its strength lies in its ecosystem of integrations, seamless onboarding, and educational resources that help users maximize platform value. While it doesn’t use AI for content generation in the same way as AGC Studio, HubSpot leverages data-driven insights to guide content strategy and audience targeting. The platform is particularly effective for businesses focused on inbound marketing and lead nurturing, offering workflows that automate follow-ups and segment contacts based on behavior. However, advanced features like social listening, custom reporting, and multi-brand management require higher-tier plans.

Buffer is a streamlined social media management platform ideal for small businesses that prioritize simplicity and ease of use. According to their website, Buffer allows users to schedule posts across Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), LinkedIn, and Pinterest from a single dashboard. The platform emphasizes transparency and user experience, offering clear analytics, engagement tracking, and team collaboration features. Buffer’s core strength lies in its intuitive design and reliable publishing engine, making it a favorite among solopreneurs and small marketing teams. It includes tools for content curation, hashtag suggestions, and optimal timing recommendations based on audience activity. While Buffer does not offer AI-generated content or advanced research systems like AGC Studio, it provides a solid foundation for consistent social media presence. The platform also supports link tracking and performance reporting, helping users refine their posting strategies over time. Buffer’s free plan allows up to three social accounts and ten scheduled posts, making it accessible for startups testing their social strategy. Paid plans unlock unlimited scheduling, analytics, and team roles. Buffer is best suited for businesses that already have content ready and need an efficient way to distribute it across platforms without complexity.

Hootsuite is one of the most widely used social media management platforms, offering comprehensive tools for scheduling, monitoring, and analyzing content across multiple networks. According to their website, Hootsuite supports publishing to Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, and TikTok, making it one of the few platforms with broad platform coverage. It includes a visual content calendar, team collaboration features, and AI-powered content suggestions through Hootsuite Impact, which helps users identify high-performing topics. The platform also offers social listening capabilities, allowing businesses to monitor brand mentions and industry conversations across public channels. Hootsuite’s dashboard consolidates streams from all connected platforms, enabling users to respond to comments and messages in one place. While it lacks native AI video or blog generation, Hootsuite integrates with third-party tools and offers workflow automation for repetitive tasks. The free plan supports up to two users and three social profiles, making it accessible for small businesses. However, advanced features like custom reporting, bulk scheduling, and sentiment analysis require higher-tier subscriptions. Hootsuite is best for teams that need centralized social media oversight and basic automation without deep AI integration.

Sprout Social is a professional-grade social media management platform designed for teams that need deep analytics, engagement tools, and workflow automation. According to their website, Sprout Social supports publishing and monitoring across Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and TikTok, with robust tools for content scheduling, audience engagement, and performance measurement. The platform includes a unified inbox for managing messages and comments, a visual content calendar, and AI-driven content suggestions to help optimize posting strategies. Sprout Social excels in reporting, offering customizable dashboards, competitor benchmarking, and ROI tracking—making it ideal for data-focused marketers. It also provides team collaboration features like approval workflows and role-based permissions. While it doesn’t offer AI-generated content or video creation like AGC Studio, Sprout Social integrates with third-party tools and offers workflow automation for repetitive tasks. The platform is particularly strong in customer engagement and brand monitoring, with sentiment analysis and keyword tracking capabilities. However, all plans are paid, and pricing is on the higher end, which may be a barrier for very small businesses or solopreneurs.